Chapter 2: The Mirror Sea

He didn't know what kind of Siren forces were attacking, but having only two destroyer ship girls did nothing to ease his anxiety.

In this world, ship girls are categorized just like in the game he used to play. The main classifications are:

-Submarines (SS)

-Destroyers (DD)

-Light Cruisers (CL)

-Heavy Cruisers (CA)

-Monitor Ships (BM)

-Battlecruisers (BC)

-Battleships (BB)

-Light Aircraft Carriers (CVL)

-Regular Aircraft Carriers (CV)

However, in this world, battleship and aircraft carrier ship girls are extremely rare, as they possess powerful skills and strength.

Lin Lan knew very well that destroyers had their limits. 

Unless they had a significant level and equipment advantage like in the game, destroyers alone couldn't stand against the large Siren battleships.

The most urgent task was to gather intelligence on the Sirens attacking them.

Wasting no time, he pushed open the door to the captain's cabin.

In this world, after years of war with the Sirens, even civilian ships were equipped with radar to monitor the surrounding sea conditions.

But when Lin Lan looked inside the captain's cabin, he found it completely empty.

The sight of the deserted cabin made Lin Lan freeze for a moment before he burst out in anger, cursing, "Those damn cowards, they've abandoned the passengers and taken the lifeboat!"

The ship had only one small escape submarine, and with the captain missing, he didn't need to guess where the irresponsible crew had gone.

But Lin Lan didn't have time to chase after them. He quickly rushed to the control panel.

The radar screen was covered with red dots, all concentrated directly ahead of the ship.

Seeing this, Lin Lan's heart skipped a beat.

Ahead of them… was an entire Siren fleet?

He quickly looked up. Through the reinforced glass in front of him, he could see the deck and the sea ahead.

Outside, the storm was raging, with towering waves making visibility almost nonexistent.

The sky was so dark that both the rolling sea and the sky seemed like they were covered in black ink.

It was only two or three in the afternoon, but it felt as if the ship was sailing through the middle of the night.

Even though Lin Lan couldn't see the Siren fleet ahead with his naked eye, he knew clearly that this passenger ship was heading straight into hell!

"Turn around! We need to turn around immediately!"

Snapping back to reality, Lin Lan realized that his back was drenched in cold sweat.

Forcing himself to stay calm, he searched for the ship's control system to switch from autopilot to manual control.

But before he could do anything, he saw a flash of yellow light flickering through the stormy waves ahead.

"Boom!!!"

In the next second, a massive wave, several meters high, erupted right in front of the ship.

Even though the passenger ship was already rocking violently due to the raging sea, the thunderous explosion made Lin Lan's heart skip a beat.

They had been spotted by the Sirens!

Lin Lan knew they had to turn around quickly to escape the range of the Siren fleet's main guns. Only by taking advantage of the bad weather could they hope to escape the Siren's attack.

Such a large Siren fleet likely included a Siren aircraft carrier or flagship. If the Siren aircraft started pursuing them, they would be doomed!

It only took Lin Lan a few seconds to find the manual navigation system. As he started planning a new course, he also tried to contact the nearest port for help.

But he quickly realized, with a sense of despair, that the communication seemed to be cut off—he couldn't reach anyone.

"Captain! The ship is under attack by the Sirens! We must turn around immediately! We're about to engage; please respond!"

A worried girl's voice came through the communicator.

Lin Lan didn't need to guess—it was the two escorting destroyer ship girls who had just sent the message.

They likely had no idea about the size of the Siren fleet ahead.

He quickly grabbed the communicator and said, 

"This is the captain's cabin. The captain has abandoned the ship. I'm now in command. Report your equipment and configuration immediately."

"You are…?"

Hearing the confusion in the girl's voice, Lin Lan quickly added, 

"I'm a trainee commander from the Hongye Naval Academy. I repeat, the captain has abandoned the ship, and there is a large Siren fleet ahead. If you engage, it will be a suicide mission!"

There was a brief silence before another ship girl's voice came through: 

"Roger that. This is the Royal B-class destroyer Bulldog, accompanied by the same-class ship Beagle. We're fully armed and ready for combat."

"Start escorting the ship immediately, but do not fire anti-aircraft guns unless absolutely necessary."

This was Lin Lan's first order. They were still at a distance from the Siren fleet, and their artillery couldn't hit them accurately yet.

However, if they fired on the Siren aircraft, it would completely give away their position to the Sirens.

In such bad weather, remaining hidden was crucial.

"R-Roger!"

The voices of the two young girls came back. They chose to trust Lin Lan.

Once the ship girls deployed their ship equipment, they could move on the water, matching the speed and performance of their corresponding ships. 

Lin Lan wasn't worried about the two girls being swallowed by the waves.

That was the power of the ship girls—before coming to this world, Lin Lan had always thought such things existed only in games.

He loved that game. As a dedicated player from the start, he had nearly completed his collection and had maxed-out ship girls for the entire port.

Unfortunately, the world he crossed into didn't have the port he had in the game.

Standing by the glass in the captain's cabin, all Lin Lan could do now was pray that the Siren fleet had no interest in their helpless civilian ship.

The heavy passenger ship began slowly turning in the storm, while the two ship girls, now fully equipped, jumped into the sea and skillfully escorted the ship.

The Siren fleet's terrifying cannons didn't fire again. Watching the two small figures patrolling the water outside, Lin Lan felt slightly more at ease.

It was a good thing he had come to the captain's cabin. If the ship had continued on autopilot, the consequences would have been disastrous.

Soon, the surrounding waves began to calm. The storm seemed to have passed, although the sky remained gloomy.

But instead of feeling safe, the previously peaceful sea only made Lin Lan feel more uneasy.

"Something's wrong. I've left the storm zone, so why hasn't the ship's signal been restored?"

He had just muttered this to himself when a terrifying thought struck him.

He hadn't encountered this in this world yet, but in the game he used to play, the Sirens had a terrifying technology.

They could create a Mirror Sea.

Once inside a Mirror Sea, all communication systems would fail, and the entire sea area would change to whatever conditions the Sirens desired.

Moreover, the Sirens gained various buffs in a Mirror Sea, making them even harder to detect.

Swallowing nervously, Lin Lan approached the control panel.

On the radar, the only things visible were two blue dots surrounding the ship—nothing else.

But Lin Lan's sense of unease only grew stronger.

"Captain! We're now… Where's the captain?"

At that moment, a few crew members burst into the cabin, looking surprised to find only Lin Lan there.

Lin Lan looked up, about to explain that the captain had abandoned the ship, when a massive explosion suddenly rang out.

The glass in the captain's cabin shattered instantly, and the entire ship shook violently.

Lin Lan and the crew were thrown to the ground, and he felt as if the whole space had been shattered.

"W-What just happened?"

Lin Lan grabbed onto a table, pale-faced, as he shakily got to his feet. When he looked at the radar screen, his mind went blank.

The previously empty radar was now filled with red dots.

At some point, the passenger ship had been surrounded by the Sirens!

And the blue dots that were escorting them… had all disappeared.

He looked out of the shattered window to see at least a dozen black and red warships aiming their cannons directly at him!

The overwhelming sense of despair made Lin Lan's scalp tingle.

These warships were something he had seen countless times in the game and in videos since coming to this world.

Siren mass-produced unmanned warships—"Chess Pieces."

"Bulldog, Beagle, respond, please respond!" Lin Lan shouted into the communicator with trembling hands, but the only reply was silence.

Those two girls were probably already dead.

What should he do? What should he do?

Lin Lan had never felt death so close before. Even when the syndicate tried to kill him at the academy, he hadn't felt this hopeless.

"Boom!!!"

A deep rumble echoed as the ship suddenly shuddered, tilting to one side.

Lin Lan steadied himself and immediately realized what had happened—the ship's hull had been hit by a torpedo!

Those damn Sirens intended to drown them all in despair!

"Help! Help!" The crew members at the door had lost their minds, running back in a panic.

But Lin Lan only managed a bitter, hopeless smile.

Run? On the vast ocean, even without considering the whirlpool a sinking ship would create, they were surrounded by Siren Chess Pieces. Where could they possibly run?

Humanity was utterly hopeless against the Sirens at sea!

"Who would've thought…" Lin Lan clung to the control panel, feeling the ship tilt further as it slowly sank. 

In despair, he mocked himself, "I didn't even get to see my own ship girl before it all ended."

He was so unwilling. He had crossed into a world with ship girls, suffered for a year, and hadn't even reached his own port, and now he was about to become shark food.

Just as he was sinking into despair, a voice suddenly spoke in his ear.

"Strange, why hasn't your data been recorded in this experimental field's natural calculation system?"